Choose Useful Electrical Components for Innovation

Core Competencies

Communication

• Focusing on intent and purpose 
• Acquiring and presenting information
• Working collectively 
• Supporting group interactions

Thinking

• Questioning and investigating 
• Designing and developing 
• Reflecting and accessing 
• Creating and innovating 
• Generating and incubating 

Personal and Social

• Building relationships 
• Resolving problems 

Science 7–9

Big Ideas

• The electromagnetic force produces both electricity and magnetism (Gr. 7).
• Evolution by natural selection provides an explanation for the diversity and survival of living things. (Gr.7)
• Energy can be transferred as both a particle and a wave (Gr.8)
• Electric current is the flow of electric charge (Grade 9).

Content

• Electricity generated in different ways (Gr.7)
• Electromagnetism (Gr. 7).
• Atomic theory provides evidence for the existence of atoms and molecules including electrons (Gr.8)
• Properties and behaviour of electric current (Gr.9).

Curricular Competencies

Questioning and Predicting

• Identify a question to answer or a problem to solve through scientific inquiry (Gr.7)
• Make predictions about finds to their inquiry (Gr.7)
• Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic (Gr.9)

Planning and Conducting

• Collaboratively plan a range of investigation types (Gr.7-9)
• Observe, measure, and record data with accuracy and precision (Gr.7)
• Measure and control variables through fair tests (Gr.8)

Processing and Analyzing

• Construct and use tables, graphs, and models (Gr.7)
• Seek patterns and connections to data (Gr.8)
• Use scientific understandings to draw conclusions (Gr.9)

Evaluating 

• Identify possible sources of error and suggest improvements (Gr.8)
• Exercise a healthy, informed skepticism to evaluate claims (Gr.9)

Applying and Innovating

• Generate and introduce new or refined ideas when problem solving (Gr.7)
• Transfer and apply learning to new solutions (Gr.8)
• Consider the role of scientists in innovation (Gr.9)

Communication

• Communicate ideas, findings, and solutions (Gr.7-9)

Assessments

Opportunities for assessment are embedded throughout the activity through observation, discussion, and review of learners’ written work.

• Use learners’ initial predictions in Step 1 to gather insight into their current understanding of electrical components and their assumptions about usefulness.
• Use the Component Evaluation Activity Sheet to notice and support how learners:
  • gather and record evidence from testing,
  • apply shared criteria,
  • connect observations to their chosen situation, and
  • compare different components.
• Use learners’ testing conversations and small-group discussions to support evidence-based reasoning and careful use of scientific language.
• Use learners’ final rankings and written explanations to guide feedback on how effectively they are using criteria and evidence to justify design decisions.
• Use learners’ reflections on changed thinking to support flexible thinking and revision based on new information.

These notes offer optional guidance to support planning and facilitation. Teachers are encouraged to adapt the activity to suit their learners and setting.

They include suggestions for:

• supporting evidence-based decision making,
• using criteria effectively,
• supporting meaningful evidence collection during testing,
• addressing common misconceptions,
• encouraging reflection and revision,
• managing safety and materials.

Learning Launch

• Allow time for individual thinking before group discussion.
• Encourage learners to explain why they chose a particular situation or problem.
• Emphasize that there is no single “correct” answer at this stage.
• Highlight that initial ideas are meant to be revisited and refined.

Developing Understanding

• Encourage learners to connect each criterion to their specific scenario before testing.
• Support learners in planning fair tests by changing one factor at a time.
• Encourage learners to record observations during testing, not only afterward.
• Help learners notice changes in brightness, speed, sound, consistency, and control.
• Reinforce that usefulness depends on context, not just whether something “works.”
• When working with motors, focus on the idea that electric current creates motion through magnetism, without requiring technical detail.
• Help learners connect simple classroom circuits to larger systems (power source → control → use).
• Highlight that efficient components help make better use of clean electricity.
• When learners use motors, highlight that motion occurs because electric current interacts with magnetic forces. Keep the explanation simple and focus on cause and effect rather than technical detail. (Grade 7)

Reflect and Revise

• Emphasize that revising ideas based on evidence is expected and valued.
• Encourage learners to explain how their thinking changed.
• Invite learners to compare different judgments and reasoning.
• Reinforce that multiple solutions may meet the criteria in different ways.

Addressing Common Misconceptions

Learners may initially believe that:

• the most powerful component is always the most useful,
• switches are unimportant,
• more components automatically lead to better designs,
• “working” means “working well.”

Rather than correcting these directly, encourage learners to revisit the criteria and their evidence.

Supporting Safe Practice

• Use only low-voltage power sources.
• Ensure power is disconnected before changing circuits.
• Reinforce that safe control is part of the evaluation process.

Supporting Reasoning and Student Voice

Use questions such as:

• How does this component meet each criterion?
• What evidence supports your choice?
• Where might this be used in real life?

Did testing change your thinking? Why?